


Formation Z: The Distraction

by notaverse



Category: Gokusen (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-01
Updated: 2011-10-01
Packaged: 2017-10-24 05:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/259540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notaverse/pseuds/notaverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hayato's got a formation for every occasion, and if he and Ryu ever want to get some sleep it will be necessary to put Formation Z into action. It was supposed to be comedy, but somehow all this angst got in the way. Set pre-series, so Ryu's still at school and Yankumi is nowhere to be seen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Formation Z: The Distraction

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** Formation Z: The Distraction  
>  **Series:** Gokusen 2  
>  **Pairing:** Ryu/Hayato of some description  
>  **Rating:** Shall we say PG-13 for some violence and light m/m content?  
>  **Disclaimer:** Not mine. If they were, I'd make Hayato wear glasses all the time.

Hayato never told Ryu about Formation Z. He'd made every guy in the class memorize A through Y, figuring twenty-five scenarios would offer them enough variety to cope with almost any situation. Fights, celebrations, and dealing with angry authority figures, of which there were plenty. Dealing with adults was just as troublesome as running into trouble with rival schools, and happened just as frequently. At least the students of 3D would have Hayato's carefully thought-out plans to save them in their hour of need.

The only person who'd ever asked why there wasn't a Formation Z was Ryu, and Hayato had shrugged and told him they didn't need one. It wasn't until later, when he was trying to sleep through Ethics, that he realised perhaps one more was necessary. Nothing elaborate, but crucial nonetheless, and all inspired by watching Ryu surreptitiously making an early start on his lunch from behind the cover of a textbook. Peering out from beneath his lashes, Hayato could just about see the movement of his friend's lips as they opened and closed around each bite of food. Delicious morsel after delicious morsel vanished at a rapid pace, but Hayato felt no urge to lean across and steal a snack for himself. It would be too much effort and besides, he'd draw unwelcome attention to Ryu.

Not to mention the fact that he was enjoying the view, the mesmerizing motions of pink-stained lips set in a too-pale face, the play of muscles under skin marred by a small cut mysteriously acquired a few days ago. Everyone else thought he'd picked it up in a fight, and only Hayato knew Ryu had accidentally cut himself on his bedroom window frame in a rush to leave home. Ryu hadn't elaborated, but Hayato suspected he'd been having problems with his father again. It hadn't been the first time that he'd sneaked out to seek refuge with his best friend, and unless things changed drastically in the Odagiri household it certainly wasn't going to be the last.

Ryu finally noticed he was being observed and made a small shooing motion with his chopsticks to indicate that Hayato should stop watching him eat. Hayato obediently looked away...for all of three seconds. Watching Ryu eat was much more interesting than whatever the teacher was droning on about, and he was too lazy to even fake an interest in anything else. The other boy was too good a distraction.

And so when, a few nights later, Ryu showed up at Hayato's place with a face that said he was angry but wasn't going to talk about it, Hayato knew better than to waste time trying to find out what had happened. It was his turn to provide the distraction and he set to it with a will, allowing his friend to lose himself for a while in a movie so bad that neither of them cared when Taku walked in and switched off the set completely.

They didn't talk, because Ryu didn't want to. When they finally went to bed, some of the tension had left his face. Not talking helped, Hayato knew, because Ryu wasn't good at talking about himself and what he wanted, not even to his friends, and it was more important that he knew they were there. Hayato watched him sleep for what felt like hours, never taking his eyes off the slumbering boy beside him. Ryu was being a distraction again.

By the next morning, Hayato had a Formation Z. He just couldn't tell anybody about it, least of all Ryu. He didn't expect he'd ever have to use it, but if he did, it would require Ryu's complete cooperation and he'd never get that if he told him about it. It was a formation designed to use in an unwinnable fight, one where they were heavily outnumbered and there was nowhere to run.

His thinking was: if you can't beat them, and you can't escape them, you can sure as hell distract them.

Weeks passed, and when he and Ryu were ambushed one night by a group from Tadoroki, Hayato thought he finally had the chance to try out his new formation. They'd been stupid, lingering in the park long after the others had gone home, and the Kurogin uniforms had attracted a crowd of thugs who were desperate to tear them to shreds. The constant challenges never worried Hayato, not when he had enough company to handle them, but he and Ryu were by themselves and even as skilled as they were, they didn't stand a chance against so many.

There was one fleeting moment before the first punch landed on Hayato's cheek that he thought perhaps now would be a good time for Formation Z to make its debut. Ryu would be surprised, of course, though not nearly as surprised as the guys from Tadoroki, and they could use those few seconds of shock to make a break for it. Assuming Ryu didn't beat the living daylights out of Hayato himself first.

That was what made him change his mind. Would Ryu understand his tactics? Probably not. He'd call him an idiot and never stay over again. Hayato didn't mind losing out on sleep - he could catch up during class - but if he was going to lie awake all night, he wanted it to be because Ryu was lying next to him, distracting him with the soft sounds of his breathing and the comforting feeling of his best friend pressed closely against his side.

They lost the fight. It was inevitable, though not as painful as Hayato had been expecting, and they both got off relatively lightly thanks to the timely intervention of a pair of police officers. When the police showed up, everyone scattered, regardless of whose stomach their fist was buried in at the time. Ryu and Hayato ran together, the latter wishing he hadn't had that third bowl of ramen earlier because it was threatening to make a reappearance, and they reached safety breathless but in more-or-less one piece.

Ryu had taken more visible damage - everyone always seemed to aim for his face - and though he didn't say anything, Hayato knew it wouldn't go down well with his father. They separated, acting like they wouldn't see each other till school tomorrow, but Hayato sat up anyway waiting for the familiar knock at his front door. He knew it wouldn't be long in coming.

It was past midnight by the time Ryu arrived, and his face was paler than ever. Hayato let him in without a word. There was nothing he could say that would help, unless it was that he'd somehow found a way to make Ryu's father believe that Hayato and the others weren't influencing Ryu into doing anything he didn't want to do himself. Since talking was out of the question, they bedded down in silence.

The two boys faced away from each other, and Hayato lay awake waiting for Ryu's breathing to change to signify sleep. When an hour passed and nothing happened, Hayato turned over. Ryu's eyes were wide open, more awake than he'd been all evening, and they glittered with suppressed emotion. Rage, perhaps. Frustration, definitely, and a touch of sadness that things always turned out like this. There was no way either of them were getting to sleep - not without a distraction.

Words were no good, so Hayato used as few as possible.

"Ne, Ryu," he began. "I thought about it for a while and you were right."

"What's so unusual about that?" came the reply, sounding slightly irritable.

Hayato propped himself up on one elbow so he could look down at Ryu in the light leaking in from the window. He ignored the comment and said with a smirk, "We do need another formation. Just one more, for special occasions."

Ryu's expression said he was trying to decide whether to ignore Hayato altogether or elbow him in his already-tender stomach first. Eventually he sighed and propped himself up so that the two boys were face to face. "If you're keeping me up all night to tell me about your plan for celebrating Take's first date or something I'm never hanging out with you again."

Hayato shook his head vigorously. "Don't be silly - that was Formation R and this is something completely new. I thought we needed a formation for a distraction, in case we ever need to create an escape route."

There was a note of reluctant interest in Ryu's voice when he asked, "What kind of distraction?"

"Oh, I think you'll like it. At least, I hope you do. Because if you don't then we're going to have a problem."

"I won't know unless you tell me what it is, idiot."

Hayato thought this was a reasonable complaint. "Don't move, okay?" he warned Ryu. "If you do I might miss."

Before Ryu could come up with anything more coherent than "Huh?", Hayato closed the gap between them and pressed their lips together - gently, because they'd both been hit in the mouth and if he'd stopped to think about it, he would have left it for a day when they were both less bruised. The tear in his lip reopened from the pressure, and he winced internally. While he didn't know a hell of a lot about kissing, he was pretty sure it was considered bad manners to bleed into your partner's mouth.

"Ow," Ryu muttered, pulling back. He put a finger to his lips, frowning when it came away dark. "Is that my blood or yours?"

Hayato tried to smile. "How would I know?" Ryu's response wasn't telling him anything except that yes, he'd picked a bad time, and he really wanted to know what was going to happen next. Like, was he about to get kicked out of bed by his best friend?

"Hmm..." Ryu sounded thoughtful. "I could tell." He leaned in towards Hayato until their lips were almost touching, then his tongue darted out to lick the other boy's lips. Hayato was barely breathing when Ryu finally said, "Must be yours. Tastes like those three bowls of ramen you were stuffing yourself with tonight."

"Oi, you had two bowls yourself," Hayato pointed out.

"Of course I had to get a second one when you ate most of my first," Ryu said casually.

Hayato gave him the glare he usually reserved for teachers, but it was quickly replaced by a goofy grin. Clearly, Ryu was not going to be angry with him. "I told you you'd like my Formation Z," he said happily.

Ryu's hand reached out and grabbed a fistful of his T-shirt, pulling Hayato towards him like he meant to threaten him. "Hayato...you're not going to use this formation with anyone but me, right?"

Hayato snorted. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

There was a long silence, and Hayato looked away so he could pretend to be insulted. But when he met Ryu's eyes again, they were laughing.


End file.
